THIS IMAGE WAS
TAKEN THIS PAST
AUGUST at a one-on-one lighting class
I taught at Victoria
Beach in Laguna
Beach, California. The subjects are models
Natalie Huerta and Christian Garcia.

I planned the shoot about one month
before the class, as Laguna Beach requires
a permit with an assigned time slot. I chose
my time slot based on the golden hour,
however, the day ended up being mostly
cloudy. My vision for this shot was to capture
the models in a beautiful scene at Victoria
Beach, highlighting the impactful yellow
dress. I shot the scene with my Canon 5D
Mark IV using the EF 11-24mm f/4L lens at

11mm to accentuate the yellow dress, wings
and the dramatic skies.

I couldn’t have achieved this vision
without effective lighting. To light the image
I used the Profoto B1 with a wide-zoom
reflector to achieve a beautiful pop on my
subjects. I placed the B1 at a 45-degree
angle on the right side of my camera, and
I also used a speed light on the left side of
the camera for a hint of fill.

The rule that I live by for lighting my
subjects is to always expose for the
background first and then add flash. I love
to point the woman’s nose to the light 99

percent of the time to give her short-side
lighting. For wide-angle shots I prefer a
punchier look—hence why I used the wide-zoom reflector in this image—and for close
up portraits I prefer a softer look, achieved
using larger modifiers.

When shooting, I aim to take full
advantage of my overall environment, to
consistently create impactful masterpiece
art for my clients.

To learn more about the Profoto B1 light,
please visit profoto.com, and follow
@profotousa on Instagram. See more from
Christine Diaz at christinediazphoto.com.